Mountain biking in Australia

The start of the men's under 23 cross-country event at the 2009 UCI World Mountain Bike Championships in Canberra.

Mountain biking in Australia is a mix of dedicated mountain bike parks, ski resorts with mountain bike facilities, and other parks that have become popular with mountain bikers despite lacking dedicated facilities. The peak body for the sport is Mountain Bike Australia.[1]

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Since the early 2000s, investment in mountain biking facilities has produced a number of areas of high quality trails. The 2006 Commonwealth Games in particular caused the creation of the Lysterfield Park mountain bike network, including the 6.4 kilometre race circuit. Nearly 60 mountain biking clubs are registered with Mountain Bike Australia. The trail network at Mt Buller is one of only three "IMBA Ride Centers" outside the US designated by the International Mountain Biking Association.[2][3]

Parks Victoria and the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) have assisted with the creation of trail networks in recent years, such as at Forrest and Lysterfield Park. In 2012, Parks supported the creation of a downhill trail in Kinglake National Park, the first mountain bike trail in a Victorian national park. The trail, Shepherds, follows an existing powerline easement to minimise environmental damage.[4]

From the mid-2000s, a large number of tracks began to be constructed, with support from government agencies, local councils and tourism bodies. Reasons for the growth included the need to replace shrinking or displaced industries (as with the timber industry at Forrest), the need to supplement short ski seasons (as at all the ski resorts except Mt Hotham), the desire to attract more visitors to the national parks (as with Kinglake) and the need for facilities to support a growing sport (as with Lysterfield Park).

Mt Stromlo Forest Park has international standard tracks including a downhill track, 60 kilometres of cross-country, four-cross track, and a dedicated mountain bike trials course. There is also a testing track known as "the playground" for training and testing demonstration bikes.[27]

Sparrow Hill, part of Kowen Pine Forest, 11km from Queanbeyan on the Kings Highway, and 25 minutes from Canberra CBD, has 50km of world-class cross-country tracks renowned for being fast and flowing, popular with beginner and elite alike. All tracks are named and maintained, and clear signage offers numerous routes of varying length.[28]